New technology will mean shift for Internet advertising

Placing internet ads on websites will be easier and more profitable in the future thanks to a new technology developed at the University of Toronto that allows ads to be resized to fit any available website space.

Internet ads are currently only available in three or four specific sizes, meaning websites must be designed around the ads. The size restrictions greatly limit ad placement options and affect the way ads look on devices such as the iPhone and iPad.

But a new technology, developed by UofT Electrical and Computer Engineering associate professor Parham Aarabi, enables ads to be resized automatically to conform to any web space. Aarabi will present the concept at the World Wide Web 2010 Conference in late April in Raleigh, North Carolina.

"Currently, a significant portion of usable website spaces are not used for advertising because the standard size ads don't fit," says Aarabi, Canada Research Chair in Internet Video, Audio, and Image Search. "Our technology is the first ever to conform ads to any available website space in an automated and practical way. Essentially, advertisers provide a single ad at a preset size, and our technology can, automatically and dynamically, regenerate the ad at any size, resolution, or aspect ratio by taking into account the contents of the ad, relevant text, and other information."

He adds that the technology will translate into profit because formerly wasted web space can be used for advertising.

"Given an online advertising market worth billions of dollars, this technology could significantly increase revenues for publishers, and create new opportunities for advertisers," Aarabi says.